Ags, Adams Sweet 16 bound; spring drills start

By BRENT ZWERNEMAN
COLLEGE STATION — The Aggies, officially a national power under coach Gary Blair, are headed back to the Sweet 16. Second-seeded Texas A&M, led by Naismith Award finalist Danielle Adams, will face sixth-seeded Georgia at 3:30 p.m. Sunday in the American Airlines Center in Dallas, for the right to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in three years.

Where the truly intriguing potential matchup resides. Should top-seeded Baylor and A&M both win in the Sweet 16, the Brazos River rivals will face each other for the fourth time this season, this time with a Final Four berth on the line.

A&M (29-5), an easy victor over Rutgers on Tuesday night in the round of 32, has matched the school record for wins in a season. The Aggies have lost three close games already to the Lady Bears this season, and the potential Elite Eight matchup would be the most hyped women’s in-state college basketball game in history (can you think of another?).

I will be in San Antonio covering the men’s NCAA tournament Southwest Regional, and the A&M women’s coverage will be in the capable hands of Jerry Briggs from Dallas.

Spring drills start
Mike Sherman’s fourth A&M team started spring drills on Tuesday. The Aggies, who finished 9-4 last season and earned a share of the Big 12 South title, returns 10 starters on offense and eight on defense.

“We’re obviously looking for a starting center, a backup quarterback…I would like to think that any kid that comes in and outshines the guy in front of him is going to be the starter,” Sherman said Tuesday. “I would hope there is competition at every position. Realistically, some guys are a little further ahead and there’s a gap between them and the next guy. But I’d hope that we’d have competition at every position and every guy wants to be the starter.”

The annual Maroon & White game is set for April 16 at Kyle Field.

Turgeon take
Mark Turgeon has had plenty of success in a short time at A&M, so expect to hear his name bandied about with the surge of job openings. Don’t expect him to go anywhere, at least not this offseason.

A&M affirmed its faith in Turgeon last year when Oregon came after him, and he earned a raise. Turgeon, a loyalist, isn’t the kind of guy to shop his name around to every available program, even if he does find it flattering that it comes up in connection to Arkansas, Tennessee, etc. That comes with success. Again, he’s not going anywhere. If I’m wrong and hear otherwise, I’ll let you know.

On a personal note …
My lovely bride Crystal is expecting our second child, a girl, any day now. Our son, Will, is 21 months old. So things have been a little hectic around the Z household of late, especially with the Aggies having been on the road in Kansas City and Chicago the past two weeks (at least I’ve heard they’ve been hectic around the home of late).

In any case, I’m scheduled to be in San Antonio for the men’s NCAA tournament Southwest Regional starting Thursday, and in Houston for the Final Four the week after. I won’t be covering the Aggies over the next couple of weeks, outside of the usual keeping an eye on things.

As you can tell from the start of this last note, all of those plans might change in a hurry.